Long serving CEOs in the NHS: what makes them tick and what keeps them going

Scrutiny of Chief Executive Officers in publicly-funded health systems has tended to focus on the short tenure of their position as a result of recent reforms. Whilst the implications of the rapidity of change has been assessed conceptually and empirically, there has been limited inquiry into those CEOs who remain in post for long periods, whether in the same organisations or in multiple ones. This seminar will present interview data with 10 long serving CEOs in the English NHS (with an average tenure of 17 years). The findings will be framed in terms of an organisational lens (focusing on the new public management, post-bureaucracy and networked governance) and a personal lens (focusing on strategic competence, political astuteness and resilience). We also make methodological observations from this study.

Naomi Chambers is currently co-director of Leadership & Management in the Higher Specialist Healthcare Scientist Training (HSST) Programme, and Professor of Health Management at the University of Manchester. Her wide range of teaching, advisory and research interests include healthcare leadership, organisation culture, diversity and inclusion, board governance, clinicians in management, health care commissioning, health policy and management in Europe, primary care, patient and public involvement, emergency planning, e-health and clinical costing. Her publications and media profile reflect this breadth of interests. 

Mark Exworthy conducts research into the policy, organisation and management of health services. His current and recent research focuses on medical professionalism, leadership, policy implementation, and commissioning. His publications can be found here. He leads the inter-calation programme in Health Management and Leadership. His PhD students are researching policy transfer, public health, NHS workforce, and leadership